Have a 9mm Shield with 500 rounds through it. I was at the range the other day and was useing Wally World WWB 115 gr. 100 round box. I noticed weaker ejecting and a few spent brass landed on my hat. I then tried loading my 7 and 8 round mags with 3 or 4 rounds. When I did that 90% of the time it would not feed. The slide would come back a fraction of an inch. I talked my range instructor with 32 years experience, NRA cetified in 11 areas whom I trust. He said try shooting with mags full. It worked but still some weak rounds but it would feed the last round. I then tried Speer 124 grain gold dots and it ran great. My instructer said the cheap 115 grain 9mm rounds are getting lower in quality and he reccomends 124 grain in target rounds for all 9mm pistols of any brand. It goes double for the small 9mm like the Shield, etc. He said many will run without problems but they all run better with 124 gr. Is he right? I have noticed my Glocks run better with 124 gr ammo also.

Genthod:

I have had zero failures with my Shield shooting 115 grain. However when I owned a Nano I had a 2% FTE rate with Federal Champion from Walmart and a 1% FTE rate for WWB and S&B 115.

NATO 124 grain and Gold Dot 124 grain were both flawless in the Nano. (Note: sample was less with 130 rounds of NATO & 30 rounds of Gold Dot but statistically NATO should have FTEd at least one time in the 130 rounds if it was going to match S&B and WWB FTE rate)

The reason I went with the Shield was I can shoot all cheap 115 grain ammo including Federal Champion with no problems and ejections are strong. In my observation after 500 rounds the Shield is solid.

The weak ammo made sense to a point until I factored in S&B 115 which is tied for the highest power factor (mass x velocity divided by 1,000) of all major 115 grain brands. My Nano would FTE the brand at the same rate as WWB which was in the middle for power factor rating among major brands but for Federal Champion it was at the bottom of the power factor chart for all major 115 grain brands and the FTE rate was twice as high so for that example it supported the power factor argument.

Note: I shot 1,334 rounds through the Nano so my FTE rates are based on a large sample.

I also tracked FTE rate before and after Beretta polished the chamber and feed ramp and all FTE rates held steady.



Russ

I was at the range yesterday and shot 100 rds.of 9mm, using both magazines with no problems or jams. The Shield so far has 300 rds., without any problems of sights falling off, magazine failures or trigger problems.
Have no issues?

Try a firmer hold on the gun for more control. Light weak rounds can cause more issues with a light gun.. Adding more rounds does add more mass to the equation.. I think this is more common with polymer guns then there all steal counterparts from what I see at the range.. I had many 9's and aways ran cheap ammo never a issue.. Current 9 is a S&W 3d gen 6906. Floor-less functioning.. Check grip have a good hold for control and see it that will do it the next few mags. Function should get better though. Some are build tighter then others too. Just a thought! George

WWB and Federal maroon box quality is and always has been just this side of useable in semi autos. I'd try different brands and price points until I found what works best in those little blasters.

I have only shot my own loads in my Shield and they have been great so far. Only two rounds in over 300 haven't gone off with the first try and I can attribute it to primers, not the gun. Had the same problem with a PPS and the same batch of older ammo with CCI primers.

George9's comment about a firmer grip will also help. I found it necessary to grip mine a little tighter and accuracy improved too.

Will try a firmer grip. Useing the same grip with my G26 and no problem. With my hands it seems the thinness of the Shield it is harder for me to get a good grip. So back to the range. I do think the Shield runs better on good quality range ammo like Speer 124 grain.

Has anyone tried 147gr subsonic in a shield?

Thinking about a shield as a companion gun for my suppressed 9mm AR

Look at buying a Hogue Jr. slip on grip. $10 bucks